Fish & Associates

The USPTO is an enormous organization. Mail sent to the wrong address can become lost or misplaced, resulting in abandonment of matters, and missed deadlines. The correct address for mail depends on whether the letter/package is sent by U.S. mail or courier, and also depends on the contents of what is being mailed. Both ordinary first class mail and Express mail are sent to:

Mail Stop ____
Commissioner for Patents
P.O. Box 1450
Alexandria, VA 22313-1450

There are more than 30 mail stops, including the following :

Mail Stop Designations	Explanation
Mail Stop 12	Contributions to the Examiner Education Program.
Mail Stop 313(c)	Petitions under 37 C.F.R. 1.313(c) to withdraw a patent application from issue after payment of the issue fee and any papers associated with the petition, including papers necessary for a continuing application or a request for continued examination (RCE).
Mail Stop AF	Amendments and other responses after final rejection (e.g., a notice of appeal (and any request for pre-appeal brief conference)), other than an appeal brief.
Mail Stop Amendment	Information disclosure statements, drawings, and replies to Office actions in patent applications with or without an amendment to the application or a terminal disclaimer. (Use Mail Stop AF for replies after final rejection.)
Mail Stop Appeal Brief- Patents	For appeal briefs or other briefs under part 41 of title 37 of the Code of Federal Regulations (e.g., former 37 C.F.R. 1.192).
Mail Stop Comments- Patents	Public comments regarding patent related regulations and procedures.
Mail Stop Conversion	Requests under 37 C.F.R. 1.53(c)(2) to convert a nonprovisional application to a provisional application and requests under 37 C.F.R. 1.53(c)(3) to convert a provisional application to a nonprovisional application.
Mail Stop DD	Disclosure Documents or materials related to the Disclosure Document Program. (A disclosure document is NOT an information disclosure statement.) Instead of filing a disclosure document, inventors are encouraged to file a provisional patent application.
Mail Stop EBC	Mail for the Electronic Business Center including: Certificate Action Forms, Request for Customer Numbers, and Requests for Customer Number Data Change (USPTO Forms PTO-2042, PTO/SB/124A and 125A, respectively) and Customer Number Upload Spreadsheets and Cover Letters.
Mail Stop Expedited Design	Only to be used for the initial filing of design applications accompanied by a request for expedited examination under 37 C.F.R. 1.155.
Mail Stop Express Abandonment	Requests for abandonment of a patent application pursuant to 37 C.F.R. 1.138, including any petitions under 37 C.F.R. 1.138(c) to expressly abandon an application to avoid publication of the application. (Applicants are encouraged to transmit the requests by facsimile to 703-305-8568.)
Mail Stop ILS	Correspondence relating to international patent classification, exchanges and standards.
Mail Stop Issue Fee	All communications following the receipt of a PTOL-85, "Notice of Allowance and Fee(s) Due", and prior to the issuance of a patent should be addressed to Mail Stop Issue Fee, unless advised to the contrary. Assignments are the exception. Assignments (with cover sheets) should be faxed to 571-273-0140, electronically submitted (http://epas.uspto.gov), or submitted in a separate envelope and be sent to Mail Stop Assignment Recordation Services, Director - U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as shown below.
Mail Stop L&R	All documents pertaining to applications subject to secrecy order pursuant to 35 U.S.C. 181, or national-security classified and required to be processed accordingly. Until April 1, 2005, such papers, petitions for foreign filing license pursuant to 37 C.F.R. 5.12(b) for which expedited handling is requested, and petitions for retroactive license under 37 C.F.R. 5.25 may also be hand carried to Licensing and Review: Technology Center 3600, Office of the Director, Room 4B41, 501 Dulany Street (Knox Building), Alexandria VA 22314
Mail Stop Missing Parts	Requests for a corrected filing receipt and replies to OIPE notices such as the Notice of Omitted Items, Notice to File Corrected Application Papers, Notice of Incomplete Application, Notice to Comply with Nucleotide Sequence Requirements, and Notice to File Missing Parts of Application, and associated papers and fees.
Mail Stop MPEP	Submissions concerning the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure.
Mail Stop Patent Ext.	Applications for patent term extension and any communications relating thereto.
Mail Stop PCT	Mail related to international applications filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty in the international phase and in the national phase under 35 U.S.C. 371 prior to mailing of a Notification of Acceptance of Application Under 35 U.S.C. 371 and 37 C.F.R. 1.495 (Form PCT/DO/EO/903).
Mail Stop Petition	Petitions to be decided by the Office of Petitions including petitions to revive and petitions to accept late payment of issue fees or maintenance fees.
Mail Stop PGPUB	Correspondence regarding publication of patent applications not otherwise provided, including requests for early publication made after filing, rescission of non-publication request, corrected patent application publication, refund of publication fee.
Mail Stop Post Issue	In patented files: requests for changes of correspondence address, powers of attorney, revocations of powers of attorney, withdrawal of attorney and submissions under 37 C.F.R. 1.501. Designation of, or changes to, a fee address should be addressed to Mail Stop M Correspondence. Requests for Certificate of Correction need no special mail stop, but should be mailed to the attention of Certificate of Correction Branch.
Mail Stop RCE	Requests for continued examination under 37 C.F.R. 1.114.
Mail Stop Reconstruction	Correspondence pertaining to the reconstruction of lost patent files.
Mail Stop Ex Parte Reexam	Requests for Reexamination for original request papers only.
Mail Stop Inter Partes Reexam	Requests for Inter Partes Reexamination for original request papers and for all subsequent correspondence other than correspondence to the Office of the Solicitor (see 37 C.F.R. §§ 1.1(a)(3) and 1.302(c)).
Mail Stop Reissue	All new and continuing reissue application filings.
Mail Stop Sequence	Submission of the computer readable form (CRF) for applications with sequence listings, when the CRF is not being filed with the patent application.

Figure 85 — USPTO Mail Stops

Deposit Account Replenishments should be directed to a Chicago address!

Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office
P.O. Box 70541
Chicago, IL 60673

The mailing address for delivery services other than USPS (i.e., Federal Express, UPS, DHL, Laser, Action, Purolater, etc.) is as follows:

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
2011 South Clark Place
Customer Window, Mail Stop ___
Crystal Plaza Two, Lobby, Room 1B03
Arlington, VA 22202

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Fish & Associates, PC

2603 Main Street, Suite 1000 · Irvine, CA 92614-4271
Phone: (949) 943-8300 · Fax: (949) 943-8358
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